


I'll Follow You Into The Dark

by WhiteHawkHarringrove



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Cancer, Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 17:11:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19445923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteHawkHarringrove/pseuds/WhiteHawkHarringrove
Summary: Based off of the Scrubs episode: My Last Words. One of the boys is dying and the other one is by his side through it all. Happy/sad ending.





	I'll Follow You Into The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> read with this song: https://youtu.be/lCPRagQHhBw
> 
> I'd like to apologize beforehand

They never imagined that this would happen, they had felt as if they were invincible. That wasn't the case, they would know. They fought Demogorgons together, they looked the devil dead in the eyes and laughed.

Steve hid his diagnosis from everyone. It felt stupid that after everything supernatural that had happened, he would be taken out by the most mundane of things... cancer. He had told Billy a few months into their relationship. He didn't want the kids to worry, somehow he had kept it from them all and they thought he was just out of town.

Only Billy and Joyce knew about his illness, and the kind-hearted woman told them to call her when it was time. She was going to help him up until it happened.

Steve sat on the couch with Billy, resting his head on his shoulder as they sat in silence. Steve shifted, letting out a huff.

“What's wrong?” Billy asked softly, placing a kiss on top of Steve's head.

“I just can't get over the fact that one minute I'll be here and the next, I won't.” Steve responded, looking up at Billy. “Everybody's scared of death.”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Billy murmured.

“What the hell do I have to hope for?” Steve asked, Billy looked him in the eyes.

“Well, if it were me, I'd just hope that my last thought was a good one,” Billy said, honestly.

“That's it?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That's it,” Billy stated.

“You thought that was deep? That wasn't deep.” Steve told Billy, laughing.

“Sorry,” Billy said, laughing a little too.

“I'm over here dying and that's all you can come up with?” Steve asked, wiping away his tears of laughter. Steve's laughter turned into coughing and he brought his hand up to his mouth. Billy rubbed his back and let Steve ride out the coughing fit. When Steve brought his hand away it had crimson spattered all over.

“Billy, I think you should call Joyce,” Steve said, looking at the blood on his hand. 

“You sure?” Billy asked, eyes welling up with tears.

“I'm sure,” Steve said, looking Billy in the eyes. Billy grabbed a tissue and wiped the blood from Steve's hand, then from his lips. 

Billy reached and grabbed the phone off the wall as Steve snuggled back into his side. Billy punched in Joyce's number and then call. She picked up on the third ring.

“Hello?” Joyce's voice answered.

“Hey, Joyce, it's Billy, I think you should come over now.” Billy's voice cracked as he spoke to her.

“Is it...?” Joyce trailed off. Billy wiped away a tear and nodded to himself.

“Yeah, we think so,” Billy said wetly. 

“I'll be over there in five minutes, you should get him comfortable” Joyce said, Billy could hear her gathering the stuff together.

“Okay.” Billy told her then hung up when he heard the line go dead.

“Let's get you to bed,” Billy told Steve, Steve nodded and Billy picked him up bridal style, carrying him down the hall to their room. 

“I'll tell you one thing, after all the shit we've been through, I sure didn't think I'd go like this.” Steve murmured, nuzzling his face into Billy's neck. 

“I know, I didn't either.” Billy placed Steve down onto the bed and drew the covers up over his thin body. Joyce walked in the front door a couple minutes later, lugging in equipment that the hospital gave them. Steve was hooked up to a heart monitor and an IV that, for now, was just saline. 

“At the end... is it gonna hurt?” Steve asked Joyce as she placed the needle in his arm.

“No, I'll manage any pain you have,” Joyce told him, giving him the hint of a smile.

“Well, how is it going to happen exactly, maybe if I knew what was coming I'd be able to handle it better,” Steve asked, Joyce seemed surprised at his maturity. 

“Well, eventually it will become harder for you to breathe... but you won't be gasping for air, you'll just feel more drowsy and as the rest of your organs begin to fail, you'll just sort of... go.”

“I'll just go?” Steve asked, nodding, “I like that.”

Over the next few hours, they relived their adventures fighting Demogorgons and the story of them falling in love. They laughed at some stories and cried at others and for some, they laughed so hard that they cried.

Steve shifted uncomfortably and Billy knew it wouldn't be long now. Joyce injected morphine into the IV line.

“I'll leave you two alone,” Joyce whispered in Billy's ear, tears streaming down her face.

“Thank you,” Billy whispered back. Once Joyce left, Billy grabbed Steve's hand in one of his and used the other to stroke his hair. Steve was getting weaker by the minute.

“Hey, Billy... I'm getting a little tired.” Steve told Billy, trying to keep his eyes open.

“Okay, well... take a quick nap,” Billy said, kissing Steve gently on the lips before getting on the bed with Steve, pulling him in as close as the equipment would let him.

“You'll be here when I wake up?” Steve asked, making Billy let out a soft sob.

“Of course I will.” Billy promised, bringing Steve's hand to his lips and placing a kiss on his knuckles.

“I love you, you know that?” Steve asked as he closed his eyes.

“I love you too...” Billy told Steve, it was less than a minute later that the heart monitor showed nothing but a straight line. His last thought was a good one. 

Steve stared into the light and saw Billy waiting for him, a smile on his face and an arm outstretched towards him. Steve took his hand and they walked together, hand in hand, into the white abyss.

“I'll be with you soon, I promise. I'll follow you into the dark.”

“Oh, darling, there's no dark where we're going.”

**Author's Note:**

> here's the scene from the episode for those that haven't seen it: https://youtu.be/GV92203RtUk


End file.
